“Press Freedom Debate: Suspended Dutch Broadcaster ON! Sparks Controversy”

The request for suspension provokes strong reactions in the Netherlands. Not all media turned their cart against ON!. Lucas Goes, director of the PowNew broadcasting association, says to Pointer that he is “not into prohibition”. According to Goes, the other media should take a look in the mirror. “By offering no or only very limited space for other sounds, Ongehoord was able to march into the order…”

And so a discussion about press freedom is now raging in the Netherlands. There are voices that believe that a possible suspension will jeopardize this, while opponents suggest that after repeated fines it is too crazy to invest taxpayers’ money in a channel that does not follow the rules. The channel can still do its thing freely in other places, it sounds, but not as a public broadcaster.

Or Secretary of State Gunay Uslu (D66) the license of ON! actually withdrawn, is not yet known. There will be more clarity about this in the coming weeks. “My personal assessment is that ON! will not immediately improve or correct mistakes,” Vermanen thinks. “They may just start using other channels when they are banned.”